Dec. 1 Marks World AIDS Day; (PRODUCT) RED Companies Continue the Global Fight Against AIDS

Twenty-five years have passed since the virus later identified as HIV was discovered, yet the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS has relentlessly increased. In Africa alone, 5,500 lives are lost daily and unnecessarily to the deadly disease.

As GoodBiz113 reported in October ["Apple Announces iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition; Portion of Proceeds Contributed to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa," Oct. 15], several companies comprise the Bono- and Bobby Shriver-led (PRODUCT) RED initiative to raise awareness and funds in the global fight against AIDS: American Express [U.K. only], Apple, Converse, Gap, Emporio Armani, Motorola, MySpace.com [U.K. only] and MTV Networks. Each partner has developed special (PRODUCT) RED items, and donates a portion of sales or profits from those products to support Global Fund programs.

GoodBiz113 is proud to partner with two (PRODUCT) RED companies: Apple, which donates $10 from each sale of its sleek 4GB and 8GB iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition models; and Converse, which donates 5% of the net wholesale price of its distinctive, red-eyelet (PRODUCT) RED shoes. [See product sample, above.]

[Cindy, a Converse staffer, recently informed GoodBiz113 that the company's (PRODUCT) RED inventory sold out "quite quickly," and doesn't plan to restock until February 2007. Till then, customers have the "Design Your Own -- MAKE MINE RED" option at Converse.com; i.e., choose from several syles, colors, materials, etc., and include the special (RED) eyelets at the top.]

According to preliminary tracking numbers, total (PRODUCT) RED sales in the U.S. during the first six weeks since launch have raised enough money to:

* Provide more than 40,000 men or women with anti-retroviral treatment for a year;
OR

* Provide more than 2 million peer educators with HIV training;

OR

* Provide a year’s worth of school materials and daily hot meals for more than 86,000 children orphaned by AIDS;

OR

* Provide more than 1 million Rapid Tests, which detect HIV and deliver instant test results.

Looking for current information about AIDS? The Kaiser Family Foundation has a wealth of fact sheets about HIV/AIDS -- on both the global and U.S. fronts.

To keep informed about (PRODUCT) RED developments, click here.

Also, tune into a special one-hour program tomorrow evening [Friday, Dec. 1]. Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek have teamed to create a documentary, "Ashley Judd and YouthAIDS: Confronting the Pandemic," which premieres at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST on TLC.